Wall structure



Sept 1931' H. P. c. KEULS WALL STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 24, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYX- Sept 1931" H. P.'c. KEuLs WALL STRUCTURE Fliled Feb. 24, 19313 Sheets-Sheet 2' 7 7 J6- INVENTOR. J/QKM BY ATTORNEYS] Sept. 1, H- P. cKEULS WALL STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 24, 1951 ssneets-sneet s I N VEN TOR.

' ATTORNEYJ,

Patented Sept. 1, .1931

' UNITED. STATES PATENT. OFFICE HENRY I. C. KEULS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,ASSIGNOR TO SEALED JOINT CONSTRO'CTION CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK WALL STRUCTURE Application filed February 24, 1931.

This invention relates to wall constructions as made up of buildingblocks, such as bricks, tiles, stone or composition wall units, and thelike, which are laid with mortar or other suitable binder materialbetween them, forming joints, and the object of the invention is to sealthe joints between the blocks in such a manner as to prevent thepassage, seepage or penetration of water or moisture through the joints,either entirely or substantially so.

It has been found in the erection of walls of buildings, moreparticularly those in which bricks are used, that, due to the char- 1acter or condition of the mortar of the joints between the bricks, or tothe manner in which the mortar is applied or distributed, or to theamount used, or to other causes, water or moisture will penetrate andpass through the joints, more especially, where, in rain storms, therain is driven by high winds against the faceof the building. The waterthus leaking through the front wall structure. enters the inner wallstructure, and finally finds its way rooms. and causes such damagethereto as to require in many cases, the entire refinishing of the wallsand other repairs, to the great inconvenience and discomfort of theoccupants, as well as expense. In remedying this condition, it has beennecessary for 'work-' men to point up practically all of the joints inthe front wall, and in large buildings now so frequently erected, theexpense of such repair work is very great, as high in a recent casewithin my and even then not entirely remedying the fault. Under thepresent invention, means are provided forsealing, or practicallysealing, the joints in the wall, against the passage or seepage of watertherethrough, as the building of the wall progresses, which is effectedby the incorporation in the joints, of scaling strips of suitablematerial, in such manner that these strips will, in cooperation with themortar or other binder of the joints, form aharrier against the passageof the water. therethrough', and will either entirely eliminate suchpassage of water, or reduce the same to a negligible minimum.

t0 the 'finished walls of horizontal tion with knowledge, as$250,000.00;

Serial No. 517,803.

'My invention therefore consists of the improved wall structure, whichwill be described in detail in the specification to follow, and

the novel features of which will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

F ig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a wall embodying myinvention, partsbeing broken away and other parts being shown insection, in order to better illustrate the in" vention; i

Fig. 2 is a'perspective viewof one of the building blocks or bricks ofwhich the wall is composed, showing the preferred form of the same whichadapts it for use in carrying out the invention;

Fig.3 is a perspective view of one ofthe sealing strips forincorporation in the horizontal joints between the courses of wall'blocks;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of one of the sealing strips for the verticaljoints between the individual blocks of the courses;

Fig. 5 1s a fragmentary perspective view of a waH structure embodyingangularly related walls, showinghow the invention is incorporated in thecorner of said structure;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of oneof the corner blocks or bricks foruse in a wall of the form shown in Fig. 5; v

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of one of the sealing' strips for'use inconneca corner block of the form shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is aperspective view of a header brick or block, such as are used at,certain points in the wall. structure to tie the front and rear wallstogether;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective View of a wall structure of theso-called American bond,.having my invention emboded there- 1n:

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of a wall of the so-called Flemish bond,having my invention embodied therein;

Fig. 11 is a horizontal of the same 1 Fig. .12 is a sectional elevationon an en-' sectional plan View with the addition of a superposed courseof stretcher blocks.

Fig. 13 is a similar view on the line 1313 of Fig. 9, with the additionof a superposed course of structure blocks;

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the same Fig. 15 is a fragmentary perspectiveview of one of the blocks, and a sealing strip of modified form appliedthereto.

Referring to the drawings:

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the wall structure embodying myinvention is made up of courses of building blocks or bricks 1,

preferably of the form shown in Fig. 2, where it will be seen that thebrick has formed in it acontinuous open groove 2 extending entirelyaround it lengthwise and centrally thereof, thereby forming horizontalgrooves 2* in the upper and lower sides of the brick, and Verticalgrooves 2 in the ends of the same. When bricks of this form are laid endto end, in courses one above the other, with mortar 3, orother suitablebinder material between the bricks in building a wall of the form shownin Fig. 1, the end grooves ,of a brick will aline with the end groovesof adjacent bricks, and the ,upper and lower grooves of the bricks of acourse will alinewith the corresponding grooves of the bricks of theadjacent courses, so that there will be produced, vertical compositegrooves l between the ends'of theindividual bricks, and horizontalcomposite grooves 5 betweenthe course of bricks. These composite groovescommunicate with the horizontal and vertical points-respectively betweenthe bricks,

and are adapted to-receive respectively, hor-,

izontal sealing strips 6, preferably of the form shown in Fig. 3, andvertical sealing strip 7, preferably of the form shown in Fig. 4, whichstrips are embedded in the mortar of the respective joints and extendinto the grooves of adjacent bricks, and therefore act in connectionwith the mortar of said joints as barriers or seals against the flow orseepage of water through the joints.

These sealing strips may be made of any material impervious, orsubstantially impervious'to water. such for instance, as cop per orgalvanized iron, or other appropriate material possessing thischaracteristic. and the vertical strips 7 are of a width to bridge themortar joint between the .ends of the bricks and to extend into andoverlap the walls of the alined vertical grooves therein, While thehorizontal strips 6 are similarly of a width to bridge the horizontaljoints between the sides of adj aeent bricks and t extend into andoverlap the walls of the alined grooves in the sidesof theadj acentbricks, all as best shown in Figs. 1, 1-2, 13 and 14.

As shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 9. the horizontal strips 6 overlap the upperand lower ends of the vertical strips 7, as at 8, and the adjacent endsof the horizontal strips overlap each other, see Figs. 5 and 9, therebyforming around each individual brick and in the vertical and horizontaljoints, a continuous barrier made up conjointly of the vertical andhorizontal overlapping strips embedded in thernortar of the joints, andthereby constituting an effectual seal for said joints.

In erecting a wall to incorporate such sealbetween, the length of thesestrips being such a that they will project at their upper ends a shortdistance above the upper faces of the bricks; and horizontal sealingstrips 6 are placed in the alined horizontal grooves 2 of the severalbricks of the course, and are preferably disposed as above mentioned,"so that they will overlap the upper projecting ends of theverticalstrips, and their inner ends will overlap each other at pointsbetween the ends of the bricks, the upper edges of these stripsprojecting a short distance above the upper facesof the bricks andsubstantially flush with the. upper ends of the vertical strips, asshown in Fig. 1. A layer of mortar is now spread over the upper faces ofthe bricks soas to cover the projecting portions of the'horizontal andvertical sealing strips, and sufficient in quantity to constitute thehorizontal joint between the twocourses. Another course of groovedbricks is now laid on this bed or layer of mortar and lined up with thebricks of the first course, and the workman by tamping the bricks downslightly, will cause the upper projecting edges of i the strips to bereceived in the grooves in the undersides of the bricks; and theseoperations are continued in laying the bricks of the succeeding courses.As a result, the vertical and horizontal sealing strips will be embeddedin the mortar of the joints, and will extend into the grooves ofadjacent bricks and into the mortar therein, which mortar will enter toa greater or lesser extent into said grooves as it is applied to theends and sides ofthe bricks. as above described.

Header bricks 10 for incorporation with 5 Flemish bond, as shown in Fig.10, the horizontal portions of the front transverse grooves of theheader bricks will aline with the longitudinal grooves of adjacentstretcher bricks to receive the horizontal sealing strips, and thevertical portions of v the front grooves of the header bricks will alinewith the vertical grooves in the sides 7 Y of similar header bricks, 01'the vertical central groove in the header brick is for the purpose ofenabling the brick-layer to separate the brick into two equal sectionsfor usein certain kinds of brick work.

On reference to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be seen that the wall structurethere shown embodies two angularly related walls 13, joining eachotherin a corner, and to adapt the invention to this corner portion of thewall, propose to employ in some-cases an L-shaped corner block or brick14 as shown in Fig.

-6, where it will be seen that horizontal grooves 14 are formed in theupper and lower sidesof the brick, which grooves intersect at theirinner endsat each side of the brick, and vertical grooves;14 are -formedin the ends "of the brick. The location ofthese grooves is such that theend grooves will aline with the end grooves of adjacent bricks when'theL-shaped brick is laid in the corner of the wall, as shown in Fig. 5,and the side grooves of the L-shaped brick will aline with similargrooves in similarly L-shaped bricks when these bricks are laid one uponthe other; or

will aline with the side groves of stretcher bricks when the latter arealternated-vertically with the'L-shaped bricks.

Angular sealing strips 16, preferably of the form shown in Fig. 7, maybeused to seat in the angularly related grooves 14* of the L-shapedbricks, as shown in Fig. 5, the ends of which angular strips willoverlap the endsof the straight horizontal strips 6 seated in thehorizontal grooves of adjacent stretcher-bricks; or in place of such anangular strip, two straight strips may be seated in the angu'larlyrelated grooves and be abutted at their inner ends to form a sealedcorner.

It will be manifest that instead of employing horizontal sealingstripsof a length to extend only from one block or brick to another. ashereinbefore shown and described, longer strips may be employed, so asto take in three or a greater number of bricks, without departing fromthe limits of the invention.

The use of the term building blocks in the claims is intended to begeneric to all forms of bllock-like building units, such as bricks,blocks of stone or composition stone.

or the like, solid or hollow tiles, etc., etc., and

the invention is applicable, as will be obvious,

to such diflerent forms of building blocks or units to seal the mortaredjoints between them, although the invention has especial and peculiarapplication to building 1 blocks in the form of bricks.

Also the use in the claims of the term mortar in defining the materialof which the joints between the bricks are composed, is meant to includealso all other forms of binder material, such as cement, concrete, orother "compositions in which building blocks may be laid in theformation of wall structures; and the use of such other materials isclearly within the scope of the invention as expressed in the claimshereof.

While in the foregoing description and' accompanying drawings I have setforth the invention in the particular detailed form which I prefer 'to,adopt, in respect to the construction of the parts, it will beunderstood that these details may be variously changed and modified bythe skilled mechanic without departing from the limits of the invention;and further, it will be understood that the invention is not limited toany particular form or construction of the parts, except in so far assuch limitations are specified in the claims. I

It may be advisable in order to maintain the horizontal strips inupright position in the horizontal grooves in the bricks, before themortar is applied, to provide the strips with horizontal supporting pins17 in position to rest on the upper face of the brick at the sides ofthe groove, as shown in Fig. 15.

hese pins will act to prevent the strip from falling sidewise in the tgroove out of proper posi 1on. a

I claim is:

1. In a wall construction, the combination of courses of building blocksdisposed one over the otherand each block provided with a continuousgroove extending entirely around the samelengthwise thereof,, thegroovesof adjacent blocks being alined with each other both at the sidesa same, mortar between the ends and sides of adjacent blocks andconstituting vertical joints between the individual blocks andhorizontal joints between the courses of blocks, vertical sealing stripsembedded in the mortar of the vertical joints and extending into thegrooves in adjacent blocks to seal said "ertical joints and horizontalsealing strips embedded in the mortar of the horizontal joints andextending into the grooves in the side of the blocks to seal saidhorizontal joints.

I '2. In a Wall construction the combination iao of building blocks laidend to end in courses,

said blocks being provided in their sides and ends with grooves, wit-hthe grooves of one block in alinement with the corresponding grooves ofthe adjacent block, mortar between the blocks forming vertical jointsbetween the individual blocks of a course,and horizontal joints betweenthe courses of blocks, vertical sealing strips embedded in the mortar ofthe vertical joints and extending into the alined end grooves ofadjacent blocks, and horizontal sealing st'rips embedded in the mortarof the horizontal joints and extending into the alined side grooves ofadjacent blocks, said horizontal strips overlapping the ends of the,vertical strips. v

3. In a wall construction, the combination of building blocks laid endto end in courses, said blocks being provided intheir sides and endswith grooves, with the grooves of one block in alinement. with thecorresponding grooves of the adjacent block, mortar between theblocksforming vertical joints between the individual blocks of a course, andhorizontal joints between the courses of blocks,

vertical sealing strips embedded in the mortar of the vertical jointsand extending into the alined end grooves of adj arent blocks, and

horizontal sealing strips embedded in the mortar of the horizontaljoints and extending into the alined side grooves of adjacent blocks,said horizontal strips overlapping the ends of the vertical strips, andthe said'horizontal strips overlapping each other at their ends.

4. In a wall structure, the combination of angularlv related walls madeup of grooved building blocks having mortar between them and havinghdrizontal and vertical sealing strips embedded in said mortar andextending in the grooves, L-shaped building blocks at the corner of saidwalls, provided each in its upper and lower sides with angularlyrelated'horizontal grooves adapted to aline with the grooves in adjacentsimilar L-shaped blocks and horizontal angular sealing strips adapted tobe seated in the alined angular grooves and to be embedded in the mortarbetween the said blocks, said L-shaped blocks being provided in theirends with vertical grooves alined with the vertical grooves of adjacentbuilding blocks, and vertical sealing strips seated in said alinedvertical grooves and embedded in the mortar between the blocks,

5. In a wall construction, the combination of courses of building blocksdisposed one over the other and each block provided with a continuousgroove extending entirely around the same, the grooves of adjacent bloc{8 being alined with each other, binder material between the blocksconstitutingwer tical joints between the individual blocks andhorizontal joints between the courses of

